Many OpenAI-compatible model providers (like Groq, Together AI, etc.) don't support the name field in chat completion messages, causing API errors when using AutoGen with these providers.

This PR adds an include_name_in_message parameter to BaseOpenAIChatCompletionClient that controls whether the name field is included in message parameters sent to the API.

Changes

• Configuration: Added include_name_in_message: bool parameter to BaseOpenAIClientConfiguration and related Pydantic models
• Client Layer: Updated BaseOpenAIChatCompletionClient, OpenAIChatCompletionClient, and AzureOpenAIChatCompletionClient constructors to handle the new parameter
• Transformation: Modified _set_name() function to conditionally include the name field based on context
• Integration: Updated to_oai_type() and count_tokens_openai() functions to pass the parameter through the transformation pipeline
• Testing: Added comprehensive tests covering various scenarios and model families

Usage

Standard OpenAI (default behavior)

client = OpenAIChatCompletionClient(
    model="gpt-4o",
    api_key="your-openai-key"
    # include_name_in_message defaults to True
)

Groq (disable name field)

client = OpenAIChatCompletionClient(
    model="llama-3.1-70b-versatile",
    base_url="https://api.groq.com/openai/v1",
    api_key="your-groq-key",
    include_name_in_message=False  # Disable name field
)

Alternative: Use name prefixes instead

client = OpenAIChatCompletionClient(
    model="custom-model",
    base_url="https://api.example.com/v1",
    api_key="your-key",
    include_name_in_message=False,  # Don't send name field
    add_name_prefixes=True          # Prepend names to content instead
)

Message Transformation

With name field (include_name_in_message=True):

{
  "role": "user",
  "content": "Hello there!",
  "name": "User123"
}

Without name field (include_name_in_message=False):

{
  "role": "user",
  "content": "Hello there!"
}

Backward Compatibility

This change is fully backward compatible:

• include_name_in_message defaults to True
• Existing code continues to work unchanged
• Only affects behavior when explicitly set to False

The implementation follows existing patterns (similar to how Mistral models already exclude the name field) and provides consistent control across all model types.

Fixes #6034.

💬 Share your feedback on Copilot coding agent for the chance to win a $200 gift card! Click here to start the survey.